Detachable handle for bicycle handle-bars



UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

JAMES S. COPELAND, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE POPE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE AND PORTLAND,

MAINE.

DETACHABLE HANDLE FOR BICYCLE HANDLE-BARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 594,231, dated November 23, 1897. Application filed June 2 9, 1896. Serial No. 597,286. (No model.)

, following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

This invention relates to the construction of the handles which are usually applied to the ends of bicycle handle-bars or are used for other like purposes. Such handles are usually composed, either wholly or in large part, of cork or composition or some other non-metallic substance which will aiford a suitable and agreeable grip. These handles or grips are usually slipped onto the end of the handle-bar and are there held by a suitable cement; but it often happens that the handles or grips are loosened accidentally, and, moreover, it is always a matter of some difficulty or inconvenience to replace a handle or to apply a new one to the handle-bar. Furthermore, some of the materials which in other respects are most desirable for the purpose, such as a cork, are liable to break unless they are firmly cemented to the handlebar. I have sought to provide means whereby the grip, of whatever material it is composed, shall at all times be firmly supported and shall also be capable of application to or removal from the handle-bar quickly and without difficulty, so that the grips can be replaced by the user as often as required.

My invention will be described fully and in detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which I have represented several embodiments thereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal central section of a handle constructed in accordance with my invention and applied to a handle-bar, a portion of which is shown partly in elevation and partly in section. Figs. 2, 3,and 4. are similar views representing slightlydifferent forms of the handle.

As represented in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the handle is composed of. a grip A, of cork or composition or other suitable material,

and a supporting and retaining tube Etherefor, which may be made of any suitable ma terial. As shown in this figure, the ends of the tube B are turned outwardly, as at b b, to form shoulders, between which the grip is compressed and held in place, the grip being either molded on the tube after the latter has been formed or the tube having one or both ends turned out after the grip has been slipped upon it.

For the purpose of attaching the handle to the handle-bar the tube 13 is provided with a screw-threaded portion b to engage'a correspondingly-threaded portion 0 of the handlebar C or other part. As the tube B is usually made as light as possible, and therefore of thin metal, it is desirable that the grip A shall receive, at least for a portion of its length, the additional support of the handlebar 0. For this reason the screw-threaded portion of the tube B is formed at about the middle of the tube, and in the wake of the threaded portion the tube B is of reduced internal diameter, as by being swaged down, as at 5 so that the threads themselves shall be raised from the internal surface of the tube. The screw-threads of the handle-bar C are out below its surface, so that when the tube 13 is engaged with the handle-bar the inner portion thereof shall be firmly supported throughout its length by the handle-bar itself.

In the construction shown in Fig. 2 the grip A and the handle-bar C are formed as before, and the tube B is also formed substantially .as before, but instead of being swaged down only in the wake of the screw-threaded portion it is swaged down out to the end. In this construction also the tube 13 is directly supported for part of its length by the handlebar 0.

In the construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4. the grips A and the handle-bars C are likewise formed as before, but the supportingtube for the grip is not formed in one piece, but has one or both of its outwardly-turned ends formed separately and applied to the main body of the tube, this construction permitting the grip to be made up and slipped onto the tube.

In Fig. 3 the tube 13 is shown as having its outwardly-turned end portion formed independently of the body of the tube and driven thereon, while the end piece 5 is inserted within the outer end of the tube 13 and is held in place by one or more pins or screws 5 In Fig. 4 the tube 13 is shown as having one end piece 19 formed integral therewith, as in Figs. 1 and 2, while the other end piece 12 is driven on the end of the tube 13 as in the construction shown in Fig. 3. Either of these constructions permits the grip A to be fully formed and finished and then slipped upon the supporting-tube and secured thereon by driving on or securing in place one or both of the end pieces.

It will be evident that with any of the constructions described the handle can at any time and without difficulty be removed from or applied to the handle-bar, while the grip is always held firmly in its place and is always supported properly, so that danger of breakage is avoided.

I claim as my invention-- The combination with a handle-bar or other like part having its end screw-threaded, of a handle composed of a suitable grip and a tube to support and retain the same, the said tube being screw-threaded interiorly to engage the screw-threaded portion of the handle-bar and being swaged down in the wake of said screwthreaded portion, whereby said tube and grip are supported firmly by the handle-bar, substantially as shown and described.

This specification signed and witnessed this 26th day of June, A. D. 1896.

JAMES S. COPELAND.

In presence of- FELTON PARKER, FREDERICK K. CAswELL. 

